SHARON LOWERY, M.A. is the Co- Director of SmartStart. She received her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology in 1989 and founded SmartStart in 1992. Sharon is the administrative arm of SmartStart, coordinating all things that keep SmartStart running smoothly. In addition , she is a faculty member of Dr. Stanley Greenspan’s Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders (ICDL). Sharon has been awarded her DIR certificate by Dr. Stanley Greenpan. Sharon has two children, Madison and Jackson.

DANAKAE BONAHOOM, M.A. has been an early childhood educator since 1982. She holds a Master of Arts degree and teaching credential in early childhood special education. DanaKae is nationally recognized leader in the field of early intervention. She specializes in developmental intervention with families of young children, with primary expertise in sensory interaction, communication and socialization. In addition, DanaKae is the founder of Heartworks Intervention Services® (HIS) (www.heartworksintervention.com) Heartworks® is a comprehensive Developmental Model created by DanaKae and HIS is her international training and consulting company currently serving Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Thailand. DanaKae has also been awarded her DIR certificate and is a faculty member for Dr. Stanley Greenspan’s Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders. (ICDL). DanaKae has trained parents and professionals and taught extensively internationally, nationally, locally and at the community college level. She has one daughter, Mia.

 
Teachers
SmartStart employs both early childhood special education and general education teachers. Each must complete an advanced degree in their area of specialization, our special education teachers are credentialed and all teachers must have a minimum of three years experience working with children. Not only have most of our teaching staff exceeded these requirements; they also participate in an extensive Developmental Sensory Relationship-based Model and DIR/Floortime Model training on a weekly basis.

Teachers’ assistants
At SmartStart our teaching assistants are full members of our teaching team and most hold bachelors degrees in special education or a related field, some hold Masters degrees, and many are in special education graduate programs.

Therapists
SmartStart’s speech pathologists and occupational therapists are fully licensed and our occupational therapists are also certified in sensory integration. Our Developmental Interventionists must have a minimum of a BA in child development or a related field.

All staff participate in 8 or more hours a month of training.